Income and ExpenditureThe total income of the union for the period was £691,608. This amount included payments of £688,341 in respect of membership of the union. The union’s total expenditure for the period was £706,463. The union does not maintain a political fund.

Salary paid to and other benefits provided to the General Secretary, President and members of the ExecutiveThe General Secretary of the union was paid £85,872 in respect of salary and £8,935 in respect of benefits.

Irregularity statementA member who is concerned that some irregularity may be occurring, or have occurred, in the conduct of the financial affairs of the union may take steps with a view to investigating further, obtaining clarification and, if necessary, securing regularisation of that conduct.

The member may raise any such concern with such one or more of the following as it seems appropriate to raise it with: the officials of the union, the trustees of the property of the union, the auditor or auditors of the union, the Certification Officer (who is an independent officer appointed by the Secretary of State) and the police.

Where a member believes that the financial affairs of the union have been or are being conducted in breach of the law or in breach of the rules of the union and contemplates bringing civil proceedings against the union or responsible officials or trustees, he should consider obtaining independent legal advice.

Auditor’s reportWe have audited the financial statements of the Hospital Consultants & Specialists Association for the year ended 30th September 2016 on pages 4 to 6. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008) (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable to Smaller Entities).

This report is made solely to the association's members, as a body, in accordance with applicable law.

Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the association's members those matters we are required to state to them in a Report of the Auditors and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the association and the association's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of the Executive Committee and auditorsAs explained more fully in the Statement of the Executive Committee’s Responsibilities set out on page 1, the Executive Committee is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board's Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statementsAn audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the association's circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the trustees; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the financial statements to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

- give a true and fair view of the state of the association's affairs as at 30th September 2016 and of its surplus for the year then ended;- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable to Smaller Entities; and- have been prepared to meet the requirements of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Opinion on report of the Executive CommitteeIn our opinion the information given in the Report of the Executive Committee for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exceptionWe have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns;or- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.